Routes decided,Aerocity is now on Chandigarh Metro map

Two routes for the Metro Rail were decided upon at a meeting held here on Thursday. With changes made in the alignment of its routes,one will now also pass through Aerocity in Mohali.

As part of the process to prepare the detailed project report,a discussion was held during the meeting to finalise the two routes and their terminal stations.

The first route will run from the north of the city to the south,starting from a site close to Capitol Complex near Secretariat,High Court and Rock Garden. It will reach Sector 17 Plaza through UT Secretariat on Jan Marg,Sector 22,35,ISBT 43 and go to Mohali,where it will pass through Aerocity and City Centre to terminate at Sohana,after taking a turn near Sohana gurdwara.

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The other route known as the East-West Corridor will start from Sector 21,Panchkula,and lead to the railway station in Chandigarh,crossing Sector 17 Plaza,PGI,Sarangpur,and reach Mullanpur.

The meeting was attended by the representatives of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC),Rain India Technical and Economic Services (RITES),Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA),Railways,Punjab Engineering College,and officials from the Punjab and Haryana governments.

The construction of depots for both these routes requires 25 acres of land each. Haryana has communicated that it has the required land available in Sector 21 of Panchkula. Punjab is offering two sites for the depots of both routes one at Mullanpur and the other at Aerocity.

A detailed alignment will be decided specially to suit the future expansion plan of Chandigarh railway station. Respective nodal officers have to finalise the locations of proposed stations in their territory. Roughly,the elevated portion will have stations at every 1 kilometre,while the underground portion will have them at an average distance of 1.2 km.

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Speaking at the meeting,UT Finance Secretary V K Singh said attempts were on to make a working Metro in Tricity a reality soon. GMADA Chief Administrator Sarvjit Singh emphasised the need to extend the east-west route upto Zirakpur from Sector 21,Panchkula. But DMRC and RITES officials were of the view that this required more deliberation. These alignments and the station plan will have to be approved by the respective governments in order to avoid problems in their implementation.

The DMRC assured that the detailed project report,along with the proposed financial model,would be submitted on time within six months. The team of

DMRC and RITES will work on the project in direct contact with different agencies and a review will be done in two weeks.

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